German F1: Sergio Perez handed a grid penalty

Mexican Sergio Perez of Sauber was on Saturday handed a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's German Grand Prix here when race stewards ruled he had impeded rivals during qualifying.

Written by Agence-France Presse

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Hockenheim, Germany:

Mexican Sergio Perez of Sauber was on Saturday handed a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's German Grand Prix here when race stewards ruled he had impeded rivals during qualifying.

He became the fourth driver to collect a grid penalty ahead of the race after similar sanctions were given to Australian Mark Webber of Red Bull, Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Lotus and German Nico Rosberg of Mercedes, all for unscheduled gearbox changes.

Perez had qualified 12th but was found guilty of blocking both Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus and pole-sitting Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

In a statement, the stewards said the penalty was imposed "due to the driver being involved in two similar offences in the same session."